posting your podcast to blogger

Part of the podcast assignment for BUS182 is posting your podcast to your blog. You can do this by registering for a free file server account through SnapDrive.net or Box.net.

1. Register with SnapDrive.net or Box.net
2. Create a 'podcast' folder in your new account
3. Upload your podcast (mp3) file to your new folder
4. Create a link (hyperlink URL) to your uploaded podcast
5. Write a posting to your blog and copy-&-paste the link to your posting
6. Done!

There are many ways to link to your podcast through your blog; this posting shows three links.

Self-reflection on adult learning

I thought that some visitors to this blog might be interested in my view of adult education, and my self-concept regarding learning.

Below is an excerpt from one of my (MA in Leadership) papers explaining my primary beliefs about adult education. It is edited for blog readability (including removing APA citations - see the bibliography at bottom, for authors who contributed to the core of my ideas here) .

I'm primarily an experiential learner and use a combination of Accommodating and Converging learning style preferences, relying on integrating Concrete Experience, Active Experimentation, and Abstract Conceptualization to create my own reality.

The power of experiential learning was made exceptionally clear to me following the Stone Game experience in MAL residency one, and has been reinforced many times since.

I subscribe to cognitive constructivist learning theory, but support both personal constructivism and social constructivist models, believing that the application of each model is self-determined based on the situation in which the participant finds themself.

...Merriam & Caffarella provide clear direction for me: “the cognitive process of meaning making is emphasized as both an individual mental activity and a socially interactive interchange. Aspects of constructivism can be found in self-directed learning, transformational learning, experiential learning, situated cognition, and reflective practice”.

Kolb, D. (2005). Kolb learning style inventory version 3.1: Interpretive report. USA: The Hay Group.

McMullan, W., & Cahoon, A. (1979, July). Integrating abstract conceptualizing with experiential learning. Academy of Management Review, 4(3), 453-458.

Merriam, S., & Caffarella, R. (1999). Learning in adulthood: A comprehensive guide. (2^nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Early adult education by radio

I was going through the CBC archives, looking for something on lifelong learning or adult education, and I came across this historic 12 minute gem from Ideas: Radio for the mind (November 1, 1965).

The CBC Radio program Ideas is still airing.

The October 25, 1965 premiere broadcast of The Best Ideas You'll Hear Tonight was the result of two educational programs, The Learning Stage and University of the Air, merging due to budget constraints.

The Learning Stage was an adult education program with lectures and interviews on topics such as theatre, music and poetry. University on the Air had more of an educational component, consisting mostly of lectures. The original team behind The Best Ideas You'll Hear Tonight later said there was a great academic excitement in the universities about the new program.

The title was shortened to Ideas by the fall of 1966. It is the longest-running program currently on CBC Radio.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (1965, October 25). Radio for the mind. CBC Digital Archives. Retrieved October 16, 2007, from
http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-112-1441-9395/1960s/1965/.

Podcast introduction (more to come...)

Well, I finally gave it a shot and tried my hand at creating a poscast. Here's the intro for what I hope will eventually be a somewhat regular entry to this blog.

I chose the theme from the old radion show "The Shadow" partly because of this passage from The Masters' Collection:

"According to psychologist Carl Jung, we have an unconcious shadow that periodically erupts. Your shadow operates without your awareness and often, we project our shadow onto others. Our shadow is made up of our fears, insecurities and unmet needs. Often our shadow erupts just like a volcano, rolling over things in its path. We protect our shadow by giving it to another person - the people we manage, our spouse, even our children. Great leaders are aware of their dark side, and "own it"." (Kay Johnson)

Pollard, A. (ed.) (1999). Words of mouth... the masters' collection: Executive insights for the global leader. Calgary, Alberta: Ink Ink Publishing & Presentations.

Learning, management, and leadership

Learning, whether self-directed or other-directed, requires both management and leadership. What does that mean? Is there a difference between management and leadership? I think so, and so does Jack Hayhow, as shown in the video below.



I believe learning requires good leadership to generate and maintain motivation, and to keep the goal (vision) clear and in mind throughout the learning process. Learning also requires capable management skills to plan and facilitate the necessary activities, and to maintain forward momentum, to prevent slowing down (or stopping!) after reaching milestones throughout the learning process. This holds true wheather the learning is self-driected or other-directed.

Management and leadership: different, but equally important in learning!

Hayhow, J. (2006). Are management and leadership the same? [video]. Retrieved October 10, 2007, from http://youtube.com/watch?v=s_AIbuF-R-4.

Self-direction myths & misunderstandings

There are many myths and misunderstandings surrounding Self-Directed Learning (SDL), and Brocket1 listed 10 of those myths in his chapter on resistance to self-direction in adult learning, in the book he co-edited with Hiemstra1 in 1994 entitled New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education.

The myth that most strikes home for me as an adult learner, and an instructor of adult learners, is myth 6: "Facilitating self-direction is an easy way out for teachers". Many people seem to think that when an instructor employs self-direction as a teaching method, the learners do all the work and the instructor just sits back and watches. Nothing could be further from the truth!

I have taught classes that include very little self-direction, classes that fully employ SDL, and many in between those two extremes. Believe me, there is often a great deal more work involved in preparing and facilitating a class with SDL as the primary instructional method. I'd have to agree with Brocket1 when he states: "self-direction typically involves a deeper commitment from instructors because they need to focus their energy on each learner, as well as on the group as a whole" (p. 8), and it involves "a very active approach to working with learners".

I'm not saying SDL is easy for the students, but neither is it easy for the instructor. Self-direction in learning isn't about making teaching or learning easy, it's about making them more effective - and it works.

1Brocket, R. G. (1994). Resistance to self-drection in adult learning: Myths and misunderstandings in overcoming resistance to self-direction in adult learning. In Heimstra, R., & Brocket, R. G., (Eds.), Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

sententia exanimus discipulus

Examining leadership and lifelong learning through historical figures is one of the exciting activities we experience in my MA program, and one of the historical figures we're studying is Plato.

Thinking about Plato led me to contemplate ancient Greece and ancient Rome, which made me think of the translation of texts and ancient languages, which resulted in a dip into Latin.

In reflecting on all this, I began to wonder how the ancient Greeks or ancient Romans might have described a lifelong learner or lifelong learning. My search for a Latin translation ended with finding the terms 'exanimus discipulus' and 'exanimus eruditio'.

I've decided to add one of these to my email signatures relating to teaching and learning.

Musings of a lifelong learner ~= sententia exanimus discipulus

Self-directed learning

Wow. There's more to self-directed learning (SDL) than I had imagined. I understood the fundamentals of SDL, and was aware that I had applied it in my own learning. I didn't, until recently, have a grasp on the correlation between SDL and cooperative learning.

Grow's (1991) Staged Self-Directed Learning Model (SSDL) explains a lot of what I had experienced as a college instructor, introducing cooperative learning to business students. I use cooperative learning and SDL to teach project management fundamentals and Internet-related skills courses.

One of the most confusing things for me was how, in the same class of 15-30 students, I could be simultaneously rated in their feedback as 'extremely helpful 'and 'a great instructor' and as 'of no help' and 'a terrible instructor'. How could these two extremes be represented in the same group being taught the same material in the same class?

Using Grow's (1991) SSDL Model, I found I had inadvertently created a mismatch between my instructional style and the learning styles of some of the students. The mismatch was between my 'facilitative' style, decribed by Grow as T3, and the S1 'dependent' learning style of some students in the class. According to Grow, T3/S1 teacher/student mismatches are severe, often resulting in "students [who] may resent the teacher for forcing upon them a freedom they are not ready for" (1991, p. 13)

Now I have a model to apply to my instructional delivery tools and processes that allows me to better match my instructional style with the various learner styles in the class.

For more information on the SSDL model, see Gerald Grow's Spring 1991 article in Adult Education Quarterly.

Grow, G. (1991, Spring). Teaching learners to be self-directed. Adult Education Quarterly, 41(3). Retrieved September 30, 2007, from http://www.longleaf.net/ggrow/SSDL/SSDLIndex.html

What is Andragogy?

Many of you may be familiar with the term "pedagogy", defined as: "the function or work of a teacher; teaching; [or] the art or science of teaching; education; instructional methods; Origin: 1575–85; < Gk paidagōgía office of a child's tutor" (Dictionary.com, n.d., p.1). This term is often used to refer to educational methods for people of all ages.

However, research has shown that there are significant differences between the ways children learn and the ways adults learn. Exploration of this concept has led to the term "andragogy", defined as: "the methods or techniques used to teach adults" (ibid.).

In my MA program, we are exploring the origins and application of adult learning, andragogy, and self-directed learning (SDL).

A good source for more information on andragogy is the Knowles, Holton, & Swanson chapter from The Adult Learner (ISBN-13: 978-0884151159).

Throughout this blog, I'll explore the meanings, application, and misunderstandings of and about andragogy and self-directed learning.

References

andragogy. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved September 30, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/andragogy.

Knowles, M. S., Holton III, E.F., & Swanson, R.A. (1998). A theory of adult learning: Andragogy. In The adult learner: The definitive classic in adult education and human resource development (5th ed., pp. 35-72). Woburn: Butterworth-Heinemann.

pedagogy. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved September 30, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pedagogy.

Why this blog?

I'm using this medium to accomplish a number of personal goals:

1. to reflect on and deepen my learning about lifelong learning and adult education;
2. to share my reflections on the topic with my MA cohort;
3. to learn more about the use and effectiveness of blogging;
4. to show my Internet Skills learners a living example of blogging for a purpose; and
5. to generate, explore and prepare information for formal papers.

With that in mind, this blog will be a blending of casual information sharing, critical reflective thinking and writing, and random musings. Some posts will be academic in nature, complete with APA citations and references, while others will be conversational style wanderngs.

So... onward ho!

Learning throughout life

Learning is a process that continues throughout life, and is often referred to as "lifelong learning". This is a topic that has always facinated me, even before I had a name for it.

Through this blog I will explore writings, research, and my own musings on the process, its history and its potential. I hope to increase my understanding of lifelong learning, particularly as it relates to adult learners, and to share some of that understanding in this medium.

Please come back and see what I've learned lately.

As I like to say: "You live and you learn - or you don't live long."

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